The Call of the Swarm

by Melani Matejak

  After the opening word BeraX7719 went straight to the mission assignments. The composition of the scouting companies was changed again, and Xe was pleased to hear that an honorable and respected First Class Commander DeraB1044 became the new Mission Commander for scouting company three. The second choice for this position had been First Class Commander DeraR9726, a nervous and short-tempered fellow who was liked by no one. Xe, who heard many complaints about him, was glad his unit had missed the fuss.

  Not that things always went smoothly in their previous arrangement either. Several days ago Go made an ugly scene with their former Mission Commander ZippaS8865, who was now pulled from the scouting duty due to old age. She was protesting loudly against the poor treatment of unit 33 and for being given third-class tasks all the time, but the Mission Commander refused to listen to her.

  “Obey your orders and don’t defy me,” he said, cutting her off shortly.

  Incensed Eeoless was just about to burst into a seething fury when Commander Ce appeared and managed to talk her into sense. “When it comes to difficult tasks our Superior has the right and the obligation to use the best skilled units he has at his disposal and all-Starters unit can’t be chosen in such cases.”

  Through his mediating, the situation was resolved peacefully, and the Mission Commander was soothed and flew to the other side of the flower field.

  Nevertheless, Go was still mad.

  “That’s not fair,” she grumbled to her friends, clicking angrily with her hand gears. “We should object. Can’t they simply transfer several extra Troopers to our unit?”

  “Commanders spoke their mind,” said Da while inspecting Pa 2’s air-screw which had caught a plant piece in its fan and yanking the metallic fiber out. Despite the initial rivalry, they became close friends. “It’s final. We have to be patient till we earn our promotions.”

  Both Pas agreed with him.

  “I wouldn’t know” said Ka when Go turned to him. Te shrugged, and Le looked at the floor. Three other Goes from the unit just exchanged looks without a single word.

  “Xe, will you say something?” Go eyed her friend desperately.

  It was a rather awkward position for Xe as he had no desire to argue with her. But he believed the Superiors’ decisions should be honored no matter what; Commanders were the pillars of the Swarm, and obedience was the Starters’ duty.

  “Well, we have just become Flyers, so it seems a little presumptuous of me to talk about what’s good and what’s not at this point. Let’s put assumptions aside till we gain some experience.”

  Go just snorted and flew away to overcome her anger in solitude.

  Xe heaved a sigh. He felt sorry for her, but what could he do?

  Similar situations were happening all the time. Like that thing at the Ridge the other day. Starters were taken to the northern border to get familiar with the Hive’s entire territory, and everybody was happy to be there, gazing with curiosity at the long chain of bare pointy hills which was nothing like they have seen before. Only Go kept complaining how tired she was, bugging both Commanders and her fellow Starters. Sure, the trip had required a long flight and they were all tired, but it was worth it.

  The Rally finished and the Commanders were summoning their Flyers. Xe buzzed to join his unit, waving farewell to his three roommates. Those three now served in the gathering swarm number one and were full of stories and anecdotes. Last evening, Xe 73 chuckled sweetly when Xe addressed him.

  “You are the only one still calling me this. I was renamed Xe 373 as we have four other Xes in the swarm whose personal numbers end with 73. But you are welcome to keep calling me that. It sounds nice, and it reminds me of the old times.”

  To get to the Central Chamber these days, Xe and his roommates had to cut their way through the huge flowing mass of Eeols; with the beginning of the main season the Swarm has grown in size. Everywhere around them the army of Internals worked in a frenzy, rebuilding and reshaping the Hive, smashing down old constructions and erecting new walls and large sheets of wax combs. The river of liquid yellow wax was welling out of their hand pumps; when dried solid, it would turn hard and durable, radiating the luminescent green glow. Just beneath the Central Chamber was a huge room where Internals dumped the old wax in immense piles of shards. The floors of chambers and passages were never perfectly clean, though.

  Down in the belly of the Hive, the subterraneous levels that held wax combs crawled with Eeols too as they were first in line to be filled. The wax combs situated above the ground were considered supplementary and were honeyed up last. Arriving from meadows with their chest tanks full of nectar, Gatherers would give their loads over to the Internals and return quickly to the pasture; passing the entire burden of honey production on Internals was saving the Gatherers’ precious time and energy.

  By now all four scouting companies assembled in the front part of the Central Chamber close to the eastern wall and the Gate, getting ready to fly out. They were always going out first, leaving gathering swarms to wait in the Chamber for them to get back with information letting them know where to find flowers. Xe and the rest of his group loitered around, chatting and expecting the take-off signal any second now.

  But it wasn’t coming. Something was happening.

  There was shouting coming from the Gatherers’ rows, getting louder and involving more and more voices. Clangs and tumbling sounds followed, and then a few blaster shots thundered. In a heartbeat, a commotion engulfed the Central Chamber; amidst general clutter, a whirling eddy of red bodies arose with an earsplitting buzz.

  Instinctually, youngsters moved closer to each other. They tried to see what was going on, but nothing could be discerned beyond stirring redness of the countless Eeol bodies. The noise around them was deafening. Xe looked at Le who was tnearest to him, and she returned a puzzled glare; Te, opposite to them, only wiped his visor in confusion.

  Somebody ran right between them, a red blur crying, “Coming thru! Coming thru!”

  Deciding to explore the situation no matter what, Xe took a stride forward, but then somebody grabbed his arm from behind.

  “Stay where you are!”

  Young Scouts recognized the voice of Commander Ce.

  “Starters, keep still until I come for you!” Their usually calm Scoutmaster seemed very disturbed, a side of him the youngsters have never witnessed before.

  “What’s happening, Sir?”

  “Stupidity,” mumbled Commander Ce as he disappeared into the crowd, leaving his Scouts to gaze at each other.

  “What was that about?” asked Le confused.

  Xe shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Naturally, nobody bothers to tell us anything,” complained Go.

  Speculating Starters remained by the eastern wall, away from the noise and clutter. They found some large shards of wax to sit on and waited, breathing the fresh spring air which was coming from the outside.

  Chaos in the Chamber seemed to be diminishing. The shouting dropped, and airborne Eeols now swirled slower in a more orderly fashion and were beginning to land back on the floor.

  In a little while, a group of Starters from the Watcher unit passed by the eastern wall and brought some news. “There was a quarrel between First Class Commanders. A mess. It’s about appointing a new Swarm Leader for the swarm number two.”

  The Swarm Leader was a title given to the Mission Commanders of gathering swarms, which was one of the highest positions in the Hive after the Supreme Command. Several days ago the Leader of swarm number two was seriously injured during the mission and was relieved of her duty, but nobody expected that the picking of a new Leader would turn into a problem.

  “Haven’t Supremes already decided on the replacement?”

  The young Watcher Eeoless who supplied the news shrugged. “Commander HegoM2008 refuses to accept it. He claims his merits surpass a rival candidate and that position is rightfully his. Many of his crowd was at his side, and when some of them engaged in a hot dis
pute with another party the situation got out of control.”

  “And now what?”

  “Who knows?”

  “Supremes are going to send Commander HegoM2008’s complaint to the Queen” replied Commander Ce in a morose voice, showing up suddenly behind their backs like a shadow. “She’ll make her decision in a few days, so enough about that. Get in line and prepare for the quest.”

  “Then everything is back in place, Sir?” asked Pa 2.

  Commander Ce nodded.

  “The spirits have settled down and there was no serious harm done. Ugly episode, though. Such things should never occur in the Swarm. But no more discussion, youngsters. Think about your tasks.”

  The scouting company three was arranged promptly under the supervision of its Commanders. At present, it was made of thirteen Scout units, with Starters dominating its composition as usual. Xe felt better when they flew out, being in the free air once again; the blue spring sky overhead cheered him up and concentration on the seeking took his mind off unpleasant things.

  Youngsters’ skills had improved significantly over the recent period. Day after day they saw their flying abilities enhancing and their eyes growing keener. By now they were able to seek pastures independently, and their Superiors let them do that from time to time, albeit still watching them closely from behind.

  Xe’s personal progress was undoubtedly remarkable. He turned out to possess a great gift for scouting, being among the best achieving Starters in the whole company. Even though praises of Superiors and acknowledging looks of his mates made him proud, deep down he didn’t feel confident. He was aware of how much he still had to learn and wondered if he could continue to perform on the same high level in the future.

  After the brief flight Scouts arrived on a broad flat plain dotted with prickly stalks of Spring Weed. This flower had a very short season already nearing termination which was regrettable for Eeols, who loved its white sweet-scented blossoms. A low but sizeable rock grayed in the vicinity and casted its shade over a large portion of the plain with a heavy mattress of moss in damp semi-darkness at its bottom. A single lone plant of Bigleaved Creeper dozed close to the rock, its elongated central vine sprawling far off to the south.

  As customary, the scouting company divided into two even groups and those selected for messengers zoomed up to the skies, rushing to summon the gathering swarm while remaining Scouts spread to cover and secure the small part of spacious plain. This time unit 33 happened to be among the later.

  Commander Ce had to mediate almost immediately as Go was brazen again and talked back to their newly appointed Mission Commander DeraB1044. Changing their Superior didn’t mean much in terms of her opinion, and Xe just shook his head suppressing a sigh. Te and Pa 7 were giggling at the scene, but stopped when they noticed one of the Commanders looking at them. Luckily, Commander Ce managed to smooth away the situation and Scouts returned to their duties.

  Le, Ka and grumpy Go stood watch together, surveying the northern side. Two Pas were doing the same some distance away, while Da patrolled the zone with five other Starters from unit 33, two Gos and three Xes, comparing his hand spikes to theirs along the way and arguing whose were the most powerful. Xe knelt down to observe the skies, checking the clouds for potential warning signs of an incoming storm as Commander Ce had taught him.

  Then it happened.

  Xe’s ears caught a short preparatory buzz, not of the mild kind Eeols’ air-screws would produce but a nasty raspy rumbling, but he turned too late. At lightning speed, a dark insect with pair of a bright-orange eyes sprung from its hideaway under a Bigleaved Creeper leaf and pounced savagely on Ka, throwing a cloud of dust up in the air, and dimly like in a nightmare Xe heard Commander Ce’s alarming voice crying, “Scouts, target the Fly!” Sounds of blasters firing followed.

  It was over in a second.

  The black shape disappeared somewhere in the remote vegetation, chased by a troop of Scouts. Xe snapped out, finding himself standing up on his feet with his blasters smoking and surrounded by his fellow Starters. Commander Ce wasn’t in sight.

  Their friend Ka lay lifelessly on the ground.

  A horrifying wound gapped from his neck, trickling yellow blood in large oily drops that pooled underneath his body. There was another wound in Ka’s left flank, and fragments of his shattered armor were scattered all over the place. Ripped out completely by the force of the blow, his red helmet had rolled away and was lost somewhere in the moss bed leaving his mauled head ghastly naked and gory.

  Pale and mute, shocked youngsters gathered in a circle around the body. Nobody could believe this was real; petrified, they could just stare in terror.

  The arrival of Commander Ce broke the dreadful silence. Landing by the immobile body, he shook his head and tightened his lips.

  “There is nothing we can do for him. KappaD4382 served the Swarm well carrying out his duties selflessly and with dedication. He was a good Flyer and a fine Scout. We’ll miss him terribly.” The Scoutmaster stood up and clapped. “Youngsters, pull yourselves together. We have to go on our next assignment. Formation, quickly! Xe 97, you are in the front.”

  But then he was called by some other Commander and buzzed over to him, leaving his Starters alone again. They glanced at one another.

  “Are we just going to leave poor Ka lying here and continue with seeking like nothing has happened?” Go said aloud what everybody thought. “That’s not right!”

  Da stepped out. He took a look at the body on the ground, went silent for several moments, and then replied with resolution, “If Commander Ce says it is right, it is right.” His air-screw started turning. “Move on, Scouts, we have orders to execute. Xe 97, will you lead us or not?”

  Everybody was staring at Xe. He swallowed and nodded.

  With a running start, Starters were taking off one after the other. Stubborn Go persisted with her objections, without any results, and at the end she was forced to submit. Reluctantly, she joined the line at the rear.

  Up in the air unit 33 came across Mission Commander DeraB1044 tailed by a dozen Troopers. The absence of Commander Ce meant Xe was temporary in charge, so he hailed his Superior and gave a report.

  “A tragic loss” Mission Commander noted in grim voice as he hovered in place. He was not a particularly tall Eeol but was broad in chest and shoulders. “Nonetheless, it could be worse. Just one Eeol down. That was a Lesser Black Grabbing Fly; they like to strike from ambush, vile bugs. We went on pursuit, but couldn’t get the damned thing. All in all, you Starters did quite well, considering the circumstances. I’m pleased to see nobody got hurt in the friendly fire as there is a great potential for such unfortunate accidents in messy situations like this one.”

  He changed his position a bit, humming softly. “I believe your Scoutmaster has already informed you that we are to continue moving toward the southwest. The gathering swarm will be here any second now and the pasture is not plentiful enough to last all day. We must locate next one as soon as possible. That’s all, dismissed.”

  “Yes, Sir” replied Xe, contemplating the terrible price his unit had to pay for providing that ‘not plentiful enough’ pasture.

  Unit 33 remained hovering above the marked zone until Commander Ce rejoined them in the air. The scouting company was getting ready to proceed with its seeking.

  “Stay close to me, youngsters. Things went wrong today. Just one of those days” he muttered.

  Nothing bad took place for the rest of the day. A new flower field was found rather fast. There wasn’t much work for the Scouts afterward, but disheartened Starters barely had strength to drag themselves around. They were never to be the same again.

  On the way home, Xe asked about Ka’s body.

  “The remains were taken to the Gorge straight away as the gathering swarm arrived,” said Commander Ce in a somber tone, and his young Scout shuddered. The Gorge was a bottomless abyss rimmed by dark vertical cliffs where Eeols disposed of their dead. It was located quite far
from their Hive, the meaning of which Xe did not get until now.

  “Corpses attract carnivores” explained Commander Ce. “The scent of blood and all that. Never stay in their presence, but get rid of the bodies promptly. And youngster, get used to death. It happens. A lot.”

  Xe shuddered again.

  Flying amidst the large swarm of his kin was offering some consolation to him. The mere redness of countless Eeols was mending his wounded spirit. And at home, the familiar scene of the Hive interior tenderly illuminated by green wax shine comforted him further, easing the searing pain of losing a friend.

  That evening, while heading to the sleeping quarters, Xe talked with a Starter named Za.

  Za was a Scout from unit 46 usually assigned to the company two. Although his air-screw was slightly touched by one of the diseases affecting Eeols in their pre-birth age, he could achieve relatively decent speed and maneuverability. Nothing near Xe’s level, but sufficient to grant him a position of a Scout.

  Generally, Za was a jolly fellow, but tonight he put on a grim face.

  “My unit suffered a similar loss two days ago,” he said sadly when he heard of Ka’s fate. “Our Te is gone. While flying over some muddy downs, we stumbled upon a group of seven or eight Green Hunting Flies, and pitiable Te ran out of luck. Amidst the commotion, one large bug seized him and flew away; we didn’t find his body. One Commander was killed too, and an Eeoless from the unit 17. All in all, three Scouts down in one single clash.”

  “Damned Flies” mumbled Xe.

  Youngsters parted in a depressed mood.

  6.

  Images of Drought

  Life went on.

  Starters were warier, becoming jumpy and ready to respond aggressively in every instance, no matter how trivial the reason. They were paying more attention to their weaponry, particularly blasters, dedicating a lot of their time and energy for shooting practices. “Shoot first, ask questions later,” Da said.